19/06/2026
Cyberbullying Doesn’t End at 16
Recent discussions about restricting social media access for under-16s have once again brought online safety into the spotlight. Much of the debate has focused on protecting children from harmful content, addictive algorithms, and cyberbullying. These are important conversations to have.
However, there is another uncomfortable truth that often goes unspoken: cyberbullying is not exclusively a youth problem.
For years, cyberbullying was treated as something that happened mainly in schools. The public image was often of children sending cruel messages, spreading rumours, or excluding classmates online. While those issues are very real, this narrow understanding overlooked something important. The internet did not create bullying; it simply gave it a new platform.
As social media matured, many people discovered that some of the most hostile online behaviour was not coming from teenagers at all. It was coming from adults.
Anyone who has spent time in local Facebook groups, community forums, comment sections, or social media debates will have seen it. Personal insults replacing discussion. Assumptions being made about strangers. People being mocked, ridiculed, or targeted because of their appearance, background, disability, beliefs, or identity. Disagreements escalating into harassment. In some cases, individuals have even attempted to expose personal information about those they disagree with.
These behaviours are not made acceptable by age.
In fact, there is something particularly troubling about seeing adults engage in conduct that they would likely condemn in children. We rightly teach young people about kindness, respect, and responsible online behaviour. Yet many online spaces demonstrate how difficult it can be for adults to follow the same standards themselves.
For autistic people and others who may already find social interaction challenging, this can be especially damaging. Online communities can provide valuable opportunities for connection, friendship, self-expression, and support. When discussions become dominated by hostility, personal attacks, or intimidation, those spaces can become inaccessible to the very people who may benefit from them most.
One of the lessons we should have learned over the past two decades is that cyberbullying is not defined by the age of the person experiencing it, nor by the age of the person carrying it out.
It is defined by behaviour.
Mocking people, repeatedly targeting them, making personal attacks, sharing private information, encouraging pile-ons, or using intimidation to silence others are harmful behaviours whether the person involved is 13, 30, or 70.
If governments, schools, platforms, and communities want to address cyberbullying effectively, the conversation cannot begin and end with children. Protecting young people is essential, but creating healthier online spaces also requires adults to examine their own conduct.
The internet reflects society. If we want a more respectful online culture for the next generation, it is not enough to tell children how to behave. Adults must be willing to model it.
Perhaps the real lesson is this: cyberbullying was ignored for too many years because it was seen as a problem affecting “other people.” Today we know better. Online cruelty can affect anyone, and those responsible are not always the people we expect.
The challenge is not simply keeping young people safe online.
The challenge is making online spaces safer for everyone.
